Wednesday, December 12, 2007

ER


One week ago today I was sitting in the ER with my 6 month old baby. My first trip to the ER as a mother. Want to hear the not-so-gory and embarrassing details? I was clipping Justin's toenails and decided to trim his fingernails while I was at it. This was my first attempt at his fingernails because I'm a professional nail biter and I usually bite off his fingernails. I'm not sure why I decided to go for it on this particular afternoon. So he was starting to lose patience and I told him I was just going to do one last trim on his thumb, when I notice the bleeding. Ahhhh! I punctured my baby's thumb and made him bleed! I couldn't really see the cut; he was screaming and it was bleeding a lot. I grabbed a tissue and started applying pressure, but everytime I looked at the wound, it would pool up with blood again. After 10 minutes of this I started to get worried and called the nurse line. She told me to use a wet washcloth to apply pressure for 5 whole minutes before looking at the cut. She said every time I took the tissue away, I would reopen the cut, making it bleed. Good to know, huh? It's about this time that I realize that I've damaged his right thumb, the one he sucks himself to sleep with! So I've not only hurt my son, but also taken away his ability to comfort himself. Great job, Jill! Thirty minutes tick by and I hang up with the nurse having decided to have Justin seen today. The bleeding hasn't stopped and she's worried about possible infection and stitches on top of that. Right about now, I start to lose it. Darren isn't picking up his phone and his pediatrician can't see him for an hour. Justin is losing patience as I try to bandage his thumb he wants to suck so he won't bleed all over himself. So I call up a neighbor who graciously comes over to sit with my napping Joseph, and we head for the ER. By the time the nurse sees us, the bleeding has stopped and I'm feeling like an idiot. Two hours later, the doctor takes a look and says, "Let me put a bandaid on it for you." How humiliating! And I just felt so awful for my little baby that I caused pain! But in the end, I am happy to report that Justin is fine (can you believe how fast kids heal?) and I've learned a few things: 1)I'll stick to biting his nails. 2)I'll take humiliation over a serious injury any day! 3)And hey, now I know exactly how to get to the ER for the next time...? Let's not think about that.

9 comments:

Jonathan and Michelle said...

I'm so happy that everything is OK! And luckily he is young enough that he won't remember it at all!

Emily said...

I love that story...and like I said, it's something good to blog about! Better safe than sorry...you can't be too careful when it comes to fingers...especially the thumb that gets sucked. Very important!

rose said...

oh man. good thing it wasn't a big deal. and wasn't in the middle of the night. and wasn't on a weekend. and he doesn't have to take medicine to make it better. i have TOO much experience with the kids & trips to the ER.
i'm glad he's ok. but it sounds like you got pretty traumatized from it.
poor jill!

Qian Jia Ting said...

I'm glad he's okay, but I can definitely relate on a lot of levels. 1. It's hard to ignore gushing blood from your kid, even if you know it'll probably be alright. 2. I did the same thing to Annabelle when she was about one week old (we didn't go to the ER but I cut her thumb while cutting her nails too!). 3. I totally bite the baby's nails now.

Carol and Bruce said...

Wow! You scared me to death with the picture and the first sentence. I was so glad to read on and find out he is okay. Better safe than sorry. I felt bad for both of you, it is so hard to make the decision about going to the Dr. or not.

Katie said...

I'm just impressed that this is your second child and only the first trip to the ER. But, I mean, am I the only one that thinks biting Justins nails is totally disgusting? Sorry girlfriend, had to say it! I had a neighbor once who would bite his toenails...What?

Jennie Minor said...

this could possibly be my favorite story that you have told me! I know that you told me on the phone, but reading made me laugh too! You are so awesome and your kids are so lucky to have such a great mom like you! I love you!

Jenni.Woodmansee said...

ok i'm not gonna lie, i giggled, maybe laughed... but i would have done the same thing!!! you're such a good mom! for real, i hope i'm as good as you! atleast he still has all his appendages :)

can't wait to see you!!!

The P*dunc's said...

Hey, at least you know everything is okay! I took both my kids to the doctor while out of town because I thought one had strep throat and the other an ear ache. I was so upset and crying because the secretary was being mean to me until she found out that she knew my mom and then she was really nice. The best part was that one only had "the common cold" and the other was just fine. I felt so dumb! But after that I felt better just knowing that my kids were ONLY really ornery!
Kristen